Too Soon
by wubbzy
Summary: Too soon, too late – in which Sakura raised her hand too soon, and Naruto spoke up too late. Team Seven fails the written portion of the chuunin exams. Challenge fic.
1. too soon

**too soon, too late –** in which Sakura rose her hand too soon, and Naruto spoke up too late. Team Seven fails the written chuunin exams. Challenge fic.

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 _"Your stupid dream . . .  
I don't want to see it crushed!"_

– Sakura Haruno

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"Numbers twenty-eight, ten, and twenty-three, disqualified," a proctor spoke, writing their numbers on his clipboard.

Naruto and Sasuke remained silent and shaken. Sasuke wondered if they noticed his Sharingan, and Naruto wondered if they noticed he literally wrote nothing on his exam. Both gulped, but Sasuke looked towards Naruto, to see if he was the reason for their disqualification. Naruto looked to his proctor, wondering if it was his fault they were disqualified. When his proctor seemed to do nothing, he looked back towards Sasuke for answers.

Soon, their eyes moved to Sakura.

Both were shocked when they saw her arm stretched out, her eyes on Naruto, before they moved to her own, now useless, paper.

She rose her hand too early…

She was shaking, her arm high in the sky.

At that moment, she didn't think about the consequences. She didn't think about what Sasuke-kun would think of her or what he would say; she didn't think about the disappointing sigh Kakashi-sensei would make, or the smug expression Ino-pig would surely have as she gloated, calling her weak…

At that moment, all she could think about was protecting Naruto's stupid dream.

.

The regret seeping through her, as her team walked out dejected and unreadable, was very much evident.

Team seven was silent for once.

Sakura watched Sasuke with curious and remorseful eyes. He was walking ahead of them, his back hunched and his hands in his pockets as they continued to make their way out the academy. Sakura frowned, not entirely sure what to say anymore.

"So…" Naruto said, trailing off when he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say in this situation. He scratched the back of his head, looking at both his teammates. They all stopped once they were out of the academy.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura started, worried about him. He said nothing, however. Sasuke just scoffed, shaking his head and beginning to leave them without a word.

"Teme… shouldn't we talk about this first?" Naruto wondered, frustrated that he would just leave without giving them anything to go on, while they were worried for him and his undisclosed disposition.

"What's there to talk about?" he finally spoke, his tone annoyed and menacing to their ears. Sakura frowned, devastated by her decision. She knew how much facing such strong opponents meant to him, yet it didn't cross her mind at the time. Now, it's hitting her hard at the impact she caused him.

"I'm sorry," Sakura apologized, about ready to cry at her stupid choice.

"I didn't realize… how annoying you could really be," Sasuke spat before walking away. She remained frozen for a second, feeling like this scene was far too familiar.

"Sasuke-kun-" she tried to stop him, but he was already gone. Silence, as a soft breeze blew by, rustling their hair.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto chimed in, not entirely sure how to put what he wanted to say to her. He would have told Sasuke off, but he had left far too soon. He frowned at her clenched fist and slight tremors.

Her anger started to boil, growing frustrated. She didn't think this would happen. When she was taking the exams, and saw Naruto so shaky at the questions, she knew he didn't know any of them.

Now, she wasn't sure if Sasuke would be on speaking terms with her anymore.

"What, Naruto?" she asked, annoyance in her tone. Naruto scratched his head, averting his eyes and quirking an eyebrow at her menacing tone.

"Well… I didn't think… you were struggling with the written exam too… You're the smartest one out of all of us, right?" he tried to reason, not understanding how Sakura of all people could raise her hand. Sakura was smart, her mind filled with knowledge from the countless books she's read on shinobi theory and rules. He just couldn't understand how she was in the same predicament he was during the exam.

How could Sakura, of all people, be scared of the final question?

"Baka… Of course I knew them! I wasn't worried about the final question at all! I did it for you, you idiot! I knew you wouldn't be able to answer those questions!" Sakura yelled, more frustrated than ever before. Naruto looked down to his toes, not sure what to think of this.

He wasn't going to lie, he was a little ticked that she would raise her hand, but he would understand if she was afraid of the final question, because she didn't think she could do it. He would get that. But now she's saying…

"Sakura-chan, don't ever do that again," he said, frustration in his eyes as he stared straight at her. After she didn't say anything, he decided to ask, "Why?" Sakura paused for a moment, taking a second to look at his piercing blue eyes and his stern look. She wore a disbelief expression before Sakura fumed, even more annoyed.

"I wanted to help _you_. That's the last time I'm going to be nice to you! You had too much pride to raise your hand. Ugh, I'm so stupid, why should I care about your stupid dream of becoming Hokage? Why should I believe in your ridiculous dream?" Sakura groaned, more frustration evident. She was so upset, with herself more than anything. But it was so easy to lash out at Naruto who was right there.

She didn't think of the consequences when she rose her hand. She just did what she felt was right at that moment in time.

Sasuke, she understood why he would be upset with her, and she never felt lower than causing him this chance. But Naruto… she saw him from the back of the room, noticed his shaking form throughout the entire exam, noticed him freaking out. She read through the questions and new he would be incapable of answering the questions. She knew him too well. She knew that even if he didn't know the answer, even at the cost of becoming Hokage, he would never raise his hand.

Yet he was frustrated with _her_ , when she was trying to save him… this is what annoyed her more than anything, and so it came out in her words and her tone, absolutely irritated at the entire situation and the stupid irony of it all.

"W-what?" he stammered, completely shocked by her words.

"Naruto, you idiot. I didn't want to see your dream die… If we got caught cheating, or didn't answer the tenth question, we would never be chuunin, and then you could never be Hokage… Weren't you even _listening?_ No, of course you weren't, because you never listen or take your studies seriously. Now, because of you, Sasuke-kun doesn't even want to look at me!" Sakura yelled, tears evident in her eyes.

"Sakura-chan, wait-"

"Leave me alone, Naruto!" she said lowly before running away.

.

She was sulking in her bed. She lashed out at Naruto, because truthfully, she was more angry with herself than at him.

"I tell that idiot that I rose my hand for him, and he just tells me not to do that again? I was already feeling the worse because of Sasuke-kun hating me now, and he tells me that?" she whimpered, wiping the tears from her eyes. She thought she was doing the best thing for her team, but now she was second guessing herself, wondering how she could let this happen.

Sasuke was never going to let this go.

"Sakura!" she heard her mother call. "Your teammate is at the door!" Sakura perked up, wondering if Sasuke was there.

She raced to the door, and deflated when she saw Naruto, the source of her troubles.

"What do you want, Naruto?"

"Sakura-chan, did you mean what you said?" he asked desperately, his eyes boring into hers with something she couldn't grasp.

"Well, yeah…" she admitted. She meant what she said, although she did regret raising her hand. She quirked an eyebrow, wondering why he was so happy. His face was heating as he grinned at her. She looked surprised, his demeanor completely different from earlier.

"Sakura-chan, you're the first one to say it. You're the first one to say, that you believe in my dream of becoming Hokage," he explained, and Sakura was surprised, flabbergasted by his statement.

"W-well, yeah, I guess…" Naruto grinned, his smile so bright. She wasn't sure how it could get any bigger. She ran her fingers through her hair, feeling oddly weird about this situation, not sure what to say to him; she felt oddly embarrassed by his easy-going grin. "Why are you smiling like that?"

His eyes opened, with an odd seriousness to them and strong flames of determination swirling in those deep, blue irises.

"Sakura-chan, it makes me so happy to know that you believe in me, you have no idea. You believe that I will become Hokage. That's why... I promise you, I… I will become a great shinobi, so your belief in me won't die! I will be Hokage! And… I'll get stronger and smarter, so that burden doesn't have to be put on your shoulders anymore. You won't ever have to do something like that for me again, I promise! I'll get smarter and stronger, Sakura-chan, I'll become a better man, I mean it!" he declared, making Sakura flustered and taken aback by his strong and determined sentiment.

Her wide eyes soon warmed, a tender smile crossing her features.

She didn't feel regret towards her decision anymore.

It just meant they would all get stronger together. Suddenly, a grin ran across her face.

"I won't ever doubt you again, Future Hokage."

.

 _AN:_ Happy early Valentines Day, everyone! Haha, usually, I would write a really fluffy fic for Valentines Day, but that is furthest from my mind tbh. xD I probably should care for it, but I honestly don't lmao. Instead of adding it to Quiescence, I made it its own story in case I do end up wanting to expand it, heh. We'll see if I get inspired again. I was thinking about this for a while. I even made a challenge on Heaven and Earth, the narusaku forum. The only rule I made was that Sakura raises her hand too soon, and they fail the written portion of the exams. Everything afterwards is free game on the repercussions team seven faces. So if anyone wants to do this challenge, please do! Hopefully this will encourage more people to try out the challenge! Please review, I would love to know what you think, and if I should continue this! Till next time!


	2. too late

**too soon, too late –** in which Sakura rose her hand too soon, and Naruto spoke up too late. Team Seven fails the written chuunin exams. Challenge fic.

 _AN:_ Well, I'm happy with all the feedback from the first chapter! Honestly, I don't think I was planning to continue this, but you all definitely convinced me otherwise! Wanted to make sure Sasuke and Kakashi got their moments too (at least appeared), since this is for team seven more than anything. I honestly hope to just leave it with these 2 chapters. I have too many other projects going on to continue (if anyone else would like to continue it, or write their own, please do!). Hope you still enjoy!

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Besides Naruto stopping by her house, Sakura had not seen her teammates for three days after failing the chuunin exams.

When she finally did, the best word to describe the meeting was awkward, a silence permeating between them – more specifically, between Sasuke and herself.

Kakashi-sensei called for a meeting, possibly for a mission or training now that team seven is clear from the rest of the exam.

She was the second to show up by the bridge, the first being Sasuke, the boy who was plaguing her mind with worry.

She gulped, knowing he'd still be upset with her. She leaned against the entrance of the bridge, fidgeting with her red dress.

This was one of the first times she wasn't happy to see him. Sasuke was emanating an aura that screamed, _"don't come any closer."_ For once, she listened to the vibe Sasuke was giving off, his hands in his pockets, covered by the shrouds of the tree he was leaning against.

She reviewed him the second he made the slightest of movements, noticing his eyes were closed and his hands moved out of his pockets, his arms now crossed as he wore an unreadable expression. She observed his hands, and noticed they were injured – they were scratched up, burn marks evident too. She frowned, knowing that he must have dealt with failing the exam the only way he knew how: intensive training. She was about to ask him about it, before he shoved his hands back in his pocket again and moved further away from her.

Sakura frowned, her eyes to the cement floor of the bridge, wondering what she would have to do for Sasuke to forgive her.

The third member to arrive at the bridge was Naruto, who gave a loud yawn, the tension between his two teammates seemingly lost to the ninja, most likely due to his own exhaustion.

"Naruto?" Sakura wondered, noticing his tired demeanor. Upon hearing Sakura's voice, he gave her a tired grin, before waving at his two teammates.

"Morning," he said to both of his teammates, soon rubbing the crust from his eyes. Sakura, and even Sasuke, took a moment to stare at him oddly, silently questioning why he was so tired, his head band lazily tied and the zipper of his jacket open. He only grinned, giving them a thumbs up. "If you're curious, I spent the whole night studying!"

"Studying?" Sakura questioned, completely awed by his statement. She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. That was so _un-Naruto_ like. He vigorously nodded, a huge grin still plastered over his expression.

"Yeah, yeah! Remember what I said, Sakura-chan? I told you, I will become a better man! I will be Hokage material in no time! I'm going to study like you do, so I can get smarter and stronger! I'm going to go over every ninja scroll I can and learn as many different jutsu as possible! That way, I'll be able to answer all the questions correctly for the next chuunin exam," he reasoned, feeling like it was a good a time as any to pat himself on the back at a job well done. He was rather proud of himself. "And then I'll become Hokage!" Sakura, for one, was actually surprised and impressed by his new goal and his new desire to study.

"Good for you," she said under her breath. He was definitely different than before. He didn't just say he would become better, he was taking the steps to do it. She tenderly smiled his way, feeling at least something good came out of her mistake

Sasuke, on the other hand, scoffed at Naruto's words, not at all amused nor impressed.

"Idiot, that wasn't the point of the exam. You didn't realize the true intention of the exam? Tch, should have known," Sasuke insulted, closing his eyes and leaning deeper into the tree. Naruto glared, moving closer to him with his fist clenched and his eyes trying to burn a hole through Sasuke's head.

"Teme... Shut up! What are you even talking about?" he growled. Sasuke sighed, shaking his head at his teammate's cluelessness. He called him "dead last" under his breath, having to admit, that if Sakura hadn't raised her hand, Naruto would have most likely been the reason for their disqualification regardless.

Sasuke sighed, walking closer to him.

"The exams encouraged cheating," he simply explained.

"Really?" Sakura asked, surprised herself. Sasuke sighed again, his eyes closed as he tried his best not to pinch the bridge of his nose. Neither his teammates knew... typical. In that moment, he truly felt like he was the pillar of this team, holding them up by himself.

"The whole point of the exam was to cheat and not get caught. We would have known for sure, if we were able to get through the final question..." Sasuke didn't say anymore. Instead, he moved away from them as far as he can. Sakura frowned at his words, feeling terrible.

"Sasuke and his passive aggressive ass," Naruto scoffed. Sakura glared at Naruto, before sighing, knowing Sasuke was probably right though. She was too tired to scold Naruto, dejected by her own grievances.

Sakura averted her eyes, shame running through her as Sasuke walked away. Naruto looked at the hurt expression on her face, frowning at the crestfallen look and the sadness in her eyes. He knew she was taking this hard, and he felt bad, knowing that it was because she was concerned for him. Naruto furrowed his brows and crossed his arms, deciding that it was up to him to fix things. He stomped his way towards Sasuke with a grimace on his face.

"Hey! Teme… what's your problem? You know she already feels bad about what happened in the exams, you don't have to go and make it worse for her!" he shouted. Sasuke only gave a soft 'Tch", his brow furrowing a bit and a nasty expression on his face.

"Naruto, I thought you of all people would understand. Didn't you feel it before?" Sasuke said, not once looking at the boy. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed, confused by what Sasuke meant.

"Feel what?" he wondered, eyeing him carefully.

"All those ninja... they were strong, I could feel it. We lost our chance to face them," Sasuke growled, his fist banging against the tree.

Naruto gulped when he noticed the bark in the tree was smashed, noticing the small splinters in Sasuke's knuckles. Sakura's eyes widened at the view, but soon averted her eyes again, coming back to feeling regret for making Sasuke feel this way.

Naruto ground his teeth, his eyes on his feet as he thought about Sasuke's words.

All Sasuke wanted was to face stronger opponents. This was his opportunity to do so, and it was ruined, just like that. He was impatient. He wanted to face them, to test his strength and get stronger. How was he supposed to get stronger when he was considered one of the best in Konoha already? No, he needed to branch out, fight tougher opponents, especially from different regions – this could have been the only chance he had.

Naruto moved his gaze to the tree, his fingers twitching and his jaw clenched.

"You… wanted to fight all those guys, right?" Naruto questioned, already knowing the answer. Sasuke wasn't a man of too many words, but even through the silence, Naruto completely understood.

The boy with the red hair and the gourd on his back - Garra, the other one with the purple markings on his face – Kankuro… Even older Konoha genin: Rock Lee, Neji Hyuuga…

Those were just some of the opponents he wanted to face off against.

He had to keep facing stronger opponents if he wanted to have a chance against his older brother.

"You wanted to prove yourself too," Naruto said, knowing that feeling all too well. Naruto was excited to fight, for all of them to watch him, and force all of them to see their next Hokage. He wanted them to recognize him, and know he was stronger – he wasn't that bratty little kid from before who couldn't make a decent clone.

Naruto looked up, watching Sasuke's peering eyes looking off into the distance.

"I get what you mean," Naruto said in understanding. Still, an angry scowl grew on his face. He moved closer, his face now in front of Sasuke as he practically demanded his attention.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke sneered between grounded teeth. Dark eyes met deep blue ones with the conviction of a lion.

"I get what you mean… But idiot, that just means we gotta work on our teamwork even more! That means we all have to train harder than ever! Just because we missed this chance, doesn't mean you have to be an ass!"

Sasuke said nothing, just growled for him to back off.

"Teme-" Naruto started, about to move closer and give him even more of a talking to (with his fist this time), but was interrupted by a curt "Ahem." Both boys turned: Kakashi-sensei.

.

During Sasuke and Naruto's squabble, Sakura was surprised to feel Kakashi-sensei's presence next to her.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, wondering why he was a little earlier than usual – still late, but they didn't have to wait as long. Kakashi gave her an eye smile in greeting.

"Sakura, good to see you're alright," he greeted like usual.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei," she immediately apologized, a tear running down her cheek. Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile through his mask.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Sakura. In reality, it's my fault. I should have known you three weren't ready yet," Kakashi said, scratching his cheek.

Sakura winced.

Her sensei believed in them, yet here she was, ruining that belief. She made Kakashi-sensei doubt their abilities.

"I'm sorry for disappointing you, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said between sniffles.

"Now, now, no more apologizing. Let's focus on training. This is for the best, after all. It was my recklessness. Gai warned me about letting you three take the exams too early. Hate to admit it, but he might have been right. I didn't prepare you three enough," Kakashi said thoughtfully. "But I think it's time we break those two up, before they start training without us."

Sakura nodded, wiping her tears.

Kakashi gave both Sasuke and Naruto a wave in greeting. It was another way of saying to break it up. Sasuke shoved Naruto away, Naruto being too close for his liking.

"Boys, why don't we get to training now, shall we?"

"Training? We're not even going to talk about what happened?" Naruto wondered. Kakashi eyed him casually.

"Talk? What exactly do you have to say, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Not me, it's Sasuke! He's being a prick!" he yelled, moving closer to the other boy.

"Naruto!" Sakura called, making Naruto stop. Naruto simply glared at Sasuke, annoyed with the guy who kept his arms crossed and seemed uninterested.

"This is useless, talking isn't going to help our team get stronger."

"But Naruto has a point. I detect some animosity, especially from you, Sasuke," Kakashi stepped in, making Sasuke sigh. "And that won't help the team dynamics get any better. So this might help."

"What would help is more training, if the rest of the team can keep up."

"Teme… you always think you're better than everyone…" Naruto growled, his fist clenched and shaking. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"This is a waste of time. How are we supposed to have teamwork, when one of our members isn't keeping up, because they don't want to do any training whatsoever?" Sasuke wondered, giving a sharp glance to Sakura before looking away. Sakura caught that, her eyes meeting Sasuke's for a brief second. Sakura frowned, sulking at his words, knowing he was talking about her. Before, when Sasuke said she was worse than Naruto before the chuunin exams, she already felt low, but this made things worse. She couldn't even fight Naruto when he yelled too much; she was depressed.

"Hey, that's not true! Sakura-chan is working hard too! She's still one of the smartest here!"

"Then why raise your hand?" Sasuke questioned. This time, directing his gaze straight at Sakura and making her stammer for a response. Naruto paused for a moment, before growing upset.

"It's my fault! She did it because of me! Because she believed in my dream-" Naruto tried.

"Get a grip, Naruto. I think she was just being a coward. Isn't that right, Sakura?" Sasuke wondered, eyeing her. Sakura was about to speak, but she felt useless around him, not sure what to say at his words. A part of her knew that wasn't true. But another part of her doubted, wondering if he was right, because Sasuke usually was right about these things.

Naruto growled, his fist clenching, ready to punch him, before Sasuke easily blocked.

Kakashi sighed, his forehead resting on the palm of his hand

"This is a waste of my time," Sasuke said again, before turning to leave.

"Teme… get back here!" Naruto called, running after the boy.

"And here I thought this would help our team," Kakashi thought, shaking his head. It didn't seem to help much. Kakashi thought for a moment. He looked to the girl, dejected and probably feeling lower than ever.

"Sakura," he spoke calm and reassuringly, smiling her way. "You've come a long way from when we first became a team."

"Sasuke-kun is right though. I have no real talent, Kakashi-sensei. I'm not from a strong clan with distinct jutsu like Sasuke-kun or Ino…" Sakura admitted, wiping her eyes. "E-even Naruto. He's much stronger than me, as much as I hate to admit it. He proved himself, he never gives up… and I… I-" she couldn't complete her thought, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei."

"Sakura… it's my own fault. I saw your strengths, but I didn't hone in on them before the exams." He smiled at her, his hand on her shoulder as he got to eye level. "Sakura, you don't need to be from a prestigious clan to be a good shinobi. I thought you would know that. You have excellent chakra control, and a knack for genjutsu." Kakashi scratched his cheek. "It's a good a time as any to really work on that, don't you think?"

Sakura stared up to her sensei, surprised by his words, before smiling, nodding and thankful.

She refused to fall behind anymore.

.

When Naruto caught up to Sasuke, he grumbled, Sasuke finally stopping and acknowledging him.

"Why do you have to always be a jerk?"

"Idiot… I said all that, so then maybe now she can take her training seriously. Unfortunately, I realized that I'm stuck with the two of you. And if I want to get stronger, both of you need to as well if I'm ever going to get the chance to fight stronger ninja." Naruto growled, moving closer with clenched fist.

"Still, we need to practice more teamwork. There's better ways of doing it," Naruto said. Sasuke just shrugged nonchalantly. "You don't have to be mean! Sakura-chan is actually incredibly strong! She didn't raise her hand because she was scared or couldn't answer the questions!" Naruto explained in his anger.

"Do you really think that, idiot?"

"Why you-" Naruto was about to grab his collar, hoping to finally get a hit in, when he stopped.

"Naruto, it's okay." Sakura came from behind them, panting in hopes to finally keep up with them.

"But-"

"Sasuke-kun is right. I was just being cowardly," she said, a deep frown evident. "I'm sorry, Naruto. Even before, I was acting like I was better than you, but in reality, you're stronger than me. Before, it was you and Sasuke-kun who fought, while I just stood back and let you two handle it. He's right."

"There was a part of me that was scared about the next part of the exam, having to fight stronger opponents. But I'm not going to be scared anymore. Naruto, you told me that you will be a better man, to become a great Hokage. Then hear me when I tell you, that I will become a better woman – a better kunoichi." She smiled, her hands behind her and clasped together. She gave Naruto the same tender smile, before she turned to Sasuke, determination in her eyes. "Sasuke-kun," she started, a deep blush forming. "I won't give up. I know you think I'm weak now, but I, more than anything, want your acknowledgement. But I also don't want to fall behind anymore, so I won't – I refuse."

Sasuke crossed his arms, only giving a small "hn," before he motioned to leave, his back away from both of his teammates. "I don't care for empty words. If you mean what you say, then prove it," Sasuke challenged, before he continued to walk off. "Both of you."

"That guy… he acts like he's the one holding this team together," Naruto grumbled. Sakura continued to look at Sasuke's back, before turning to Naruto and giggling at his pouting face and crossed arms. "Gah, and always trying to act cool. Let's show him, Sakura-chan! He's probably going to go train by himself like he always does. Let's keep training, too!" Sakura looked at Naruto, before having a better understanding of him and offering a curt smile.

She promised both Sasuke and Naruto, that she would become stronger. She wouldn't let either of them down.

"Hey, I haven't dismissed any of you," Kakashi stepped in, making Sasuke stop in his tracks. "If it's worth anything, all three of you talking it out and actually getting along makes me proud. We will train even more for the next exam."

"That doesn't stop the fact that we lost. This was our chance to get stronger. There were genin with strong auras. We could have faced them and increased our power. There's a difference between training with the same teammates and fighting new opponents, where our experience fighting different battle styles come into play. You can train or teach us all you want, but that won't replace battling against other opponents at our level, even stronger than us," Sasuke explained. Both Naruto and Sakura looked at him, surprised by his long rant. Kakashi was surprised as well, however, he refused to let it show as he scratched his cheek and smiled.

"Sasuke, you are absolutely right. The chuunin exams would have been a great way to test your skills and face tough opponents. But that's over now. You will simply just have to wait till next year. There's nothing anyone can do about that now. We accept our losses, and we move on."

"That doesn't change the fact that we missed a chance to fight tougher opponents." Kakashi smiled, nodding.

"Well, I guess that means, we're going to have to find stronger opponents then, don't you think?"

All of team seven looked to Kakashi-sensei, surprised by his words. Naruto's face spread into the widest grin.

"You mean…" Kakashi leaned in closer, a big eye smile forming.

"You are to report back here first thing tomorrow morning. We'll be starting our new mission. Dismissed."

.

 _AN:_ This will be the last chapter (I could have added loads more drama with Sasuke hating his team for being "weak", but I figured since this is the last chapter – most likely – I figured I'd end it on a positive note).

 **Incoming long rant –** who knows what would actually happen if the chuunin exams didn't occur. But I wanted to try to be as realistic as possible. And maybe this wouldn't happen, who really knows. But if they did fail the exams for real, I would want to see team seven grow closer as a team, see them bond/ interact more. I would like to see Sakura finally start to take her training seriously. This isn't a pairing fic, but I do want to see Sakura ease up on Naruto if that happened, along with see them growing closer, at the very least, as friends and teammates. Similarly with Sasuke to Sakura. Also would think it's nice, if both her teammates were the driving force for her improvement (like we see at the end of Part 1, only I guess it would be accelerated since it's happening earlier). I want to see Sasuke start putting more value in his teammates, and obviously care for and trust them more, slowly but surely (until Orochimaru ends up finding him and messing everything up, making the fact that Sasuke is leaving even more a sad thing for them – if Oro still finds them of course and that even happens lmao). Lol but who knows if that would actually happen. Your guess is as good as mine.

I'd see them travel somewhere like Earth Country or something for a mission (so we get a better idea of different countries). Who knows really. All I know, is I would have liked to see more of that strong bond between Sasuke and Naruto, and see all of them work together as a team more before the chuunin exams (or the next one in this case). I think having another mission before they participated, would have been cool. Would love to see Kakashi train them more, Sakura with her "knack for genjutsu" (as Kakashi pointed out in the manga but we never saw anything happen with it), and maybe something else with elemental techniques for all of them (so they at least know their affinities). Kakashi is the copy ninja, he should be able to teach them some jutsu with their chakra affinities.

Just want to address why I don't think I can continue this. In reality, I could, and make it a rewrite of the Naruto series the way I wished it could have happened. Honestly, if I were to do it, it might go like this (what I said earlier). Even so, I can tell you right now, if I did, I would never finish this story. Which is why I want to save everyone the trouble and just stop here, since there is no way I could ever finish a time-consuming project like this (it would get soooo long). However, if anyone would like to take it over, or use this idea, I would highly encourage it! Just wanted to be real for a second. I'd love to know what everyone thinks! I would also love to hear how you guys would want to continue it if you had the chance (if you are inspired to do so, by all means, I really hope you do)!

Reviews and feedback would be very much appreciated! :D I would love to know how everyone feels about this, or if you agree with my speculation as to what could have happened! X)


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